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The CCP could have all the data they want on you but there is almost nothing they can do about it because an ocean and a military separates you, outside some fr

The CCP could have all the data they want on you but there is almost nothing they can do about it because an ocean and a military separates you, outside some fringe cases Interesting, I’m sure you’re aware of the CCP coercing critics (who are US citizens) by threatening their families in China? https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-china-wray-idUSKBN24825V https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-china-wray-idUSKBN248...

idrios 6y ago
I'm sure that's among the cases he meant when he said "fringe cases". Most Americans don't have families in China
- andreilys 6y ago
  Why are these fringe cases? If anything these are the obvious cases where the CCP can use data they have on you (i.e. who your family members are, your history of criticism, etc.) and use that to silence you.
  - idrios 6y ago
    Yeah, but it only works when they have some kind of leverage on you. A very lazy google search tells me that there are about 4 million Chinese Americans, which is 1.3% of the population. So 1.3% of Americans could be manipulated this way. That is a lot, and I think 'fringe' is hyperbole, but I still agree with the sentiment that the typical American can feel pretty safe from China. Expats and Americans with family or friends in China are obvious exceptions, as are people who have sent explicit photos or had affairs on Chinese apps, and people who are in debt with Chinese companies. Those are what comes to mind for me, and maybe there are more ways China could threaten an individual in the US, but I still think it's at most 5% of Americans who could be personally targeted by China (and I do think it's good to ban TikTok because I do not want that number to go up). Meanwhile US surveillance affects 100% of Americans. We have stronger rights and don't have to fear being disappeared for dissenting, but mass surveillance has the power to suppress or misdirect speech and there are entities in the US that are figuring out how to use that.
DarthGhandi 6y ago
And our leaders wine and dine with people who we call allies and good friends yet have their journalists, activists and political rivals killed without flinching. You don't see anyone in power losing sleep over the Saudis or Israel constantly assassinating people they don't like. Or even bothering to care about a madman like Duterte from going on extrajudicial rampages and killing tens of thousands of his own citizens. Apparently they're the good guys because they fall into line with us.

idrios 6y ago

I'm sure that's among the cases he meant when he said "fringe cases". Most Americans don't have families in China

andreilys 6y ago
Why are these fringe cases? If anything these are the obvious cases where the CCP can use data they have on you (i.e. who your family members are, your history of criticism, etc.) and use that to silence you.
- idrios 6y ago
  Yeah, but it only works when they have some kind of leverage on you. A very lazy google search tells me that there are about 4 million Chinese Americans, which is 1.3% of the population. So 1.3% of Americans could be manipulated this way. That is a lot, and I think 'fringe' is hyperbole, but I still agree with the sentiment that the typical American can feel pretty safe from China. Expats and Americans with family or friends in China are obvious exceptions, as are people who have sent explicit photos or had affairs on Chinese apps, and people who are in debt with Chinese companies. Those are what comes to mind for me, and maybe there are more ways China could threaten an individual in the US, but I still think it's at most 5% of Americans who could be personally targeted by China (and I do think it's good to ban TikTok because I do not want that number to go up). Meanwhile US surveillance affects 100% of Americans. We have stronger rights and don't have to fear being disappeared for dissenting, but mass surveillance has the power to suppress or misdirect speech and there are entities in the US that are figuring out how to use that.

DarthGhandi 6y ago

And our leaders wine and dine with people who we call allies and good friends yet have their journalists, activists and political rivals killed without flinching. You don't see anyone in power losing sleep over the Saudis or Israel constantly assassinating people they don't like. Or even bothering to care about a madman like Duterte from going on extrajudicial rampages and killing tens of thousands of his own citizens. Apparently they're the good guys because they fall into line with us.